Chaco is a fearsome shot isn't he though? They are scared of him before he drugs them.

Actually, you're right. He is quite terrifying. He is quite useful for shooting food, however. I thought Chaco was a great creation by Thomas Milian. Milian is always good for exceeding the director's original conception of his characters.

I'm not sure that Borowczyk is so good when his film is set in the present day (as in the last segment) and the first segment was badly let down by Raphael's hair (among other things).

You are right, those Borowczyk films set in contemporary environment don't work at all. It seems his talent is in manipulating the traditional erotic code by using the semiotic structures of a certain era which is really not adequate for portraying the contemporary atmosphere. I think Borowczyk's style of eroticization and philosophy is more or less similar to the Baroque style of Sacher Masoch which Deleuze opposes to the grim and bleak atmosphere of Sade's stories. A contemporary erotic set requires a more complex system of codes. But these codes usually look redundant, excessive or irrelevant to eroticism and sexuality. Obviously, Borowczyk's quasi-Baroque style is not really compatible with the way these contemporary codes and systems work and communicate. Have you seen The Pornographer? it tells the story of an adult director who cannot make movies anymore and his plans to bring characters and relationships of old erotic stories to present sets fail. (It is not a recommendation because that movie is just boring and stupid)

"The Mercenary (Sergio Corbucci, 1968) The SW Holy Grail, at least until youtube came along. Genius."

It's only the first three parts (about twenty-five minutes) there though.

"Obviously, Borowczyk's quasi-Baroque style is not really compatible with the way these contemporary codes and systems work and communicate. Have you seen The Pornographer? it tells the story of an adult director who cannot make movies anymore and his plans to bring characters and relationships of old erotic stories to present sets fail. (It is not a recommendation because that movie is just boring and stupid)"

Nah, not seen it. Having said I don't like his modern ones though I quite liked Love Rites although I seem to be in a minority of one there judging by all the other opinions and reviews I can find. I think I found the one on Immoral Women particularly jarring because it followed on straight from two historical ones which clearly worked better.

I watched Venus In Furs yesterday, the German one, not the Jess Franco film of the same name. Thought the film was fairly forgettable but I did like the music a lot, a composer called Reverberi apparently about whom I know nothing. The main theme was a fairly tough kind of ye-ye thing and there was a nice sitar track as well. Can't see anything about it coming out on vinyl anywhere (maybe came out on a library?) but there is a cd reissue thing along with a couple of other films that he scored. Anyone know anything about him?